Flying

Taking care of an airplane is a big job, which is why many owners turn it over to management companies.
As part of the arrangement, these companies often charter out the aircraft. Most of their charter customers are legitimate business travelers, but the government is now warning business jet charter operators about a different type of clientele-drug smugglers.

Legendary golfer Ben Hogan once said that the secret to the game is "in the dirt." By that he meant the nitty gritty of digging into the details. This column usually focuses on the "dirt"-the details of fractional investments.

The Dish: Gourmet Cupcakes. With more than a dozen variations, there's something to satisfy the most sophisticated taste. Imagine a double-chocolate cupcake with imported French chocolate; a rich red velvet cupcake with cream-cheese frosting; or perhaps a tiramisu or key-lime variant.

To determine the best fractional investment, the first thing you have to do is consider your travel profile--including where you fly, how long your trips are, how many passengers you carry, how much luggage you take, what aircraft you prefer and, of course, how much you are willing to spend. Analyzing this information, you can often come up with a single, best solution.

What Americans call "landing gear," the British call "undercarriage," which really is much more logical. That's because an airplane uses its wheels not just to land but also to take off, taxi and sit around in the hangar. Whatever you call it, the part of the aircraft that allows it to move around on the ground has several distinguishing characteristics.

During an encounter with wind shear at Chicago Midway Airport on June 5, the pilot of an Eclipse 500 pushed the thrust levers (throttles) forward with enough force to cause a software error that locked both engines at full power. Unable to slow the airplane for landing, the pilot elected to shut down one engine for the subsequent landing attempt.